Bolivia: the stakes of this election | Op …

This Sunday, the Bolivian people must make a transcendental decision, which goes beyond the meaning of a presidential election. Without losing anything, what is at stake is a historic option, a challenge for the nations that make up the Plurinational Stateto consolidate the tremendous progress achieved under the presidency of Evo Morales – which has transformed the once-backward, stagnant and ever-convulsive economy – into one of the most dynamic economies in Latin America or opts for a melancholy return to the past.

Arnold Toynbee He was right when he said that the evolution of societies (and civilizations, if any) depended on the answer they could give to the great challenges they face from time to time. And what we are now asking the nations of the Plurinational State is whether they have the wisdom and the courage to continue on the path that has made this country the brightest example of the integral progress of society, not only in economic but also political and cultural life; or if, in response to ancestral prejudices or atavistic fears, they are intimidated by the implications of deep-seated transformations in the country and move away, seeking refuge in a hazy past and whose media oligarchy is responsible for 'idealization. Not only that: also to hide the holocaust social and economic which would produce in Bolivia the return of its former leaders and its worn-out policy. It would be enough to take a look at the Argentine or Ecuadorian tragedy to convince the population that the restoration of the neoliberal hegemony undergone by Bolivia for decades would trigger a disaster of immeasurable magnitude, at beyond an unforgivable mistake in itself.

The media, the spearhead of the empire in the fifth generation of war, obscure the vision of reality because, in this "prehistory" of Bolivia, they could hardly hide the chronic poverty of the vast majority of the population , contempt and mistreatment of their people. natives and the poor in general, the absolute weakness of a state unable even to pay its officials, the lack of popular defense in the face of the rapacity of local oligarchies and imperialism, the looting of their common property, the forced migration of millions of people in search of a better life and the ferocity with which the governments of the time repressed those who fought for a decent life. This perverse exercise of fostering discord and hiding the suffering of the past is a communication strategy designed to numb people's consciences and to create suspicion or fear of the positive development experienced by Bolivia since 2006.

Transformation that altered archaic social relations, which ended the submission and humiliation of the original nations, which eliminated illiteracy, which allowed millions of people to get out of poverty, which has greatly redistributed wealth, expanded public education and health It has recovered the natural wealth of all Bolivians. And that put an end to what seemed to be the incurable curse of political instability with its aftermath of violence, social chaos and economic stagnation. These positive changes have been recognized even by people and institutions hostile to community socialism, such as Financial Times for example, that in its edition of October 27, 2015 published a voluminous supplement dedicated to "The new Bolivia" and where, it was said, given the unique importance of lithium in new information and communication technologies, this country could well be Saudi Arabia in the 21st century. It is obvious that changes of this magnitude change the sclerotic power relations. This is why the opposition to Evo, in a desperate effort, resorts to any resource provided that Bolivians and Bolivians decide to return to the past. They have huge resources for it: money, banks, companies, support from the "embassy", media with which they can defame and lie with impunity. But will the Bolivian people have forgotten the massacres perpetrated under the government of Sanchez de Lozada, or those who fell during the heroic "gas wars" and "water"? I do not believe. It is difficult to cover the sun with a finger. I was able to verify a few days ago the lively and dynamic nature of civil society in Bolivia. I am sure that in the face of Toynbee's challenge, he will choose to continue on the path traced by Evo and the social movements instead of falling into the illusion of believing that the formula that has failed so much (in the hands of Sánchez de Lozada , Banzer, Quiroga, Mesa) and that so much suffering and hardship caused him in the past would now be miraculously successful if these same characters, or their friends, reapplied it now.